Molinari: Here’s What Penguins Should Do with Bryan Rust

The no-movement clause in Bryan Rust’s contract with the Penguins expires this summer.

When it does, Kyle Dubas, the team’s president of hockey operations and general manager, will be free to trade him anytime he wants.

To anywhere that he wants.

For any reason that he wants.

And if Dubas would put Rust on the market, there would be no shortage of prospective buyers.

After all, there aren’t many clubs that wouldn’t benefit from adding a 31-goal scorer who plays a responsible 200-foot game and is an accomplished contributor on both special teams.

And whose intangibles are more impressive than any of his talents.

Those might seem like valid reasons for Dubas, who will be charged with retooling the Penguins into at least a playoff-caliber team in 2025-26, to solicit and entertain offers for Rust.

They actually are the reasons – some of them, anyway – that Dubas shouldn’t even consider doing such a thing.

That Rust has repeatedly said – and done it as recently as the team’s Breakup Day Friday – that he wants to remain with the Penguins is an obvious plus, if only because holding onto a guy who would prefer to be elsewhere is doomed to be counterproductive, at best.

Remember how well things worked out with Derick Brassard, when he was unhappy about being cast as a third-line center behind Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin? (Not that either of those two ever had accomplished much, of course.)

But Rust’s wishes should not be a significant factor in Dubas’ thinking. His mandate is to make this a better team, and if some feelings have to be bruised in the process, well, that’s life in pro hockey.

What should matter is that, even though Rust will be 33 on May 11 and plays a fearless, physically demanding game, he has shown no signs that he’s about to move out of the most productive phase of his career.

There’s no guarantee that he’ll be a consistent 30-goal man for the final three seasons on his contract, but also no evidence that Rust isn’t capable of that.

He teamed with Rickard Rakell and Sidney Crosby to form a highly effective No. 1 line during the just-concluded season. Unfortunately for the Penguins, that was the only forward unit whose members made regular appearances on the scoresheet.

But strong late-season showings by rookies Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty are cause to believe that the Penguins could assemble two offensively productive lines next season – whether they should count on Evgeni Malkin to put up solid numbers over an 82-game season is an issue for another day – and that could be a major step toward becoming a viable playoff contender.

Not as big as overhauling the defense corps or identifying an effective goaltending tandem, certainly, but important, nonetheless.

With an infusion of young talent likely, the role Rust can play in establishing the proper culture – one of commitment and selflessness, qualities that define his game – is of inestimable value.

Sure, Crosby sets an impeccable example with his work ethic and relentless drive, but he’s regarded as a top-five player in NHL history by a lot of people. Aspiring to emulate him might be intimidating for a young player who grew up admiring him on TV.

Rust, conversely, is more of an Everyman. Someone coach Mike Sullivan noted was playing on the second line and not getting any power-play time when they were together with the Penguins’ farm team in Wilkes-Barre at the start of the 2015-16 season.

That Rust since has upgraded his role at the game’s highest level is testimony to what can be achieved when a guy isn’t afraid to tax his sweat glands on a daily basis.

That’s a lesson the prospects who will be making their way to the NHL over the next few years will be well-served by absorbing, and there’s no one more qualified than Rust to teach it.

While he’s scoring goals, killing penalties and doing whatever else is asked of him, of course.